Ellie's Story

It's been a week since Ellie was born and oh what a week it's been.  Since I have all of about 15 minutes to write this I'll get straight to the point. Here are the highlights (and low lights) of Ellie's first week of life.

Birth Story

I had been measuring on the small end of normal my entire pregnancy, but my doctor wasn't too concerned because I was still growing consistently.  At my 37 week appointment my doctor expressed a little concern that my growth had slowed and was flirting with the line of being a problem. At my 38 week appointment 10 days later my fundal height had gone from 35 cm to 34 cm (it is supposed to be the same amount of cm as you are weeks). We weren't sure if it was the baby that wasn't growing or low fluid volume, but either way something wasn't right and it was time to get this little girl out.  I had really been hoping for a VBAC, but since I couldn't be induced our only choice was to schedule a c-section. A very small sacrifice to get our baby here safely. So two hours later we were at the hospital getting prepped.  Having a scheduled c-section verses an emergency one like Miles was a completely different experience. I have to add that my childhood neighbor, Brian Mathews was my Nurse Anesthetist and my Uncle, Doug Allen, ended up assisting Dr. Lawrence doing the surgery.  It was quite the personal affair, and it was nice knowing I was in good hands. Ellie was born and we were all blown away by just how small she really was.

She weighed in at 5 lbs 10 oz and 16 inches long. When Dr. Lawrence brought her around to show me I couldn't believe what a short and tiny little thing she was.  I was thrilled to see a head full of dark hair. I always imagined her having dark hair like Mason. It turns out the umbilical cord was extremely small, like just bigger than a pencil.  It was one of the smallest my doctor had ever seen. She was officially given the diagnosis of IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction).  Ellie was taken down to the nursery and that is where her story begins.

Day 1

• Put on CPAP for periods of apnea. Stayed on it for 5 hours.
• Blood pressure low and Hematocrit low.
• IV started after an hour and a half of trying. IV fluids started.
• Admitted to NICU.
• Put on oxygen to keep oxygen saturation levels up. 

  

  CPAP

  
  

  

  Mason came with Grandma Nancy right after she was born and watched her in the nursery.

  
  

  

  Things didn't go quite as smoothly as we hoped so Mason entertained himself by playing with his big brother gift while the adults worried about everything going on with baby girl.

  
  

  

  All hooked up.

  
  

  

  Ellie's pink corner.

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Dad's first hold after a long day.

  
  

  

  Mom's first hold.

  
  
  

Day 2

• Doctor Glade is very concerned about her. A lot of talk about some abnormalities they've noticed that suggest a need for genetic testing. Talk of transferring to Primary Childrens.
• U of U geneticist consulted. Unable to match symptoms to any obvious syndrome. Thinks eating and breathing problems due to IUGR. Suggests following up with genetic testing after discharge.
• Feeding tube placed to help with feedings.
• IV fluids stopped.
• Decided on the name Ellie Jane.
• I was discharged, but was able to board in a room by the NICU.
• A lot of prayers being said on Ellie's behalf.

  

  Sporting her new feeding tube.

  
  
  

Day 3

• Echocardiogram, Cranial ultrasound, and Renal ultrasound done. Some minor abnormalities on echo that will require follow up, but Cranial and Renal ultrasounds completely normal.
• Completely worn out by all the tests and didn't eat well. Required most feedings to be given through NG tube.
• Weaned off oxygen, but still requires blow-by oxygen when eating and occasionally when crying.
• Opened eyes for the first time after bath. 
• Looking and acting much better.  We definitely felt the power of prayer.

  

  Closest thing to a family picture we were able to get.

  

  First time opening eyes.

Day 4

• Focus was on eating and resting all day.  Did really well with feedings and took 1 ounce every 3 hours.
• Oxygen levels continue to drop into 70s when eating. Blow-by used to help.
• Swelling from CPAP has gone down and she is getting more and more beautiful.

  

  Daddy's girl is absolutely right.

  
  

  

  Grandma got some snuggling time today.

  
  
  

Day 5

• Doctor Glade sees her for the first time since Friday (day 2) and says he hardly recognized her because she is doing so well. Thinks she might be able to go home tomorrow and will continue treatment outpatient.
• Put back on trace amount of oxygen to help with feedings and crying. Will be going home on oxygen.
• Increased feedings to 1.5 ounces every 3 hours.

Day 6

• Doctor writes orders for discharge.
• Home oxygen and apnea monitors set up.
• Weighed 5 lbs 2 oz on discharge.
• Came home to some very excited brothers and sisters.
• Slept like an angel all afternoon.
• Screamed from 10pm-5am. 

  

  So tiny.

  
  

  

  Headed home

  
  

  

  Not a fan of her oxygen and loves to pull it out.

  
  

  

  Home at last.

With Ellie in the NICU we never really had a great opportunity for the kids to come and meet their baby sister. All Brynn got to do was take a quick peak at her and Mason got to hold her once and Miles wasn't allowed in at all. This made our homecoming even more special, because it was our first time together as a family.

The new and improved Murray family.

Mason is totally infatuated with Ellie.  He colored countless pictures for her while she was in the hospital and asked us to hang them around her bed in the NICU. He loves to hold her and is so sweet and gentle with her.

Mason's first time holding Ellie.

Brynn loves Ellie from a distance. She is very intimidated by her oxygen and all the monitor cords. She has still never held her, but will cautiously approach her and lovingly touch her hands and arms while singing songs to her. She is very possessive of Ellie and informs everyone that "She is MY baby sister.  You can only kiss her if I say you can."

My girls.

Miles is enthralled with the "baa-baa" (yes, like a sheep noise).  So far he has been surprisingly gentle with her. Watching him go over and squat next to her and just smile and talk to her is by far the most precious thing I've ever seen. He loves to share things with her and will take books, blankets, and many other random things and set them on her.  To say he loves her is an understatement. I'm so glad Ellie will always have Miles to be her big protector.

He'll just sit there for as long as we let him.

Ellie in her little boy jammies. There were only 3 premie outfits in the store and one of them was for boys, but we needed more than just two to rotate, so this is what she got.

I have never seen a more worried and protective Dad than I have seen in Scott this last week. He was supposed to leave for his internship in Omaha the day after Ellie was born. The minute we knew things weren't going as smoothly as we had hoped he was on the phone with Union Pacific to tell them he couldn't leave his family right now. Thankfully they stopped him as soon as he said his baby had had some complications and told him he needed to be here with our family and moved his start date back a week. It is absolutely killing him that he has to get in the car and leave to Omaha tomorrow. He is so in love with his little girl.

At the end of the week things are so much better than we thought they would be. If there is one thing we have learn about Ellie it is that she is a fighter.  We are so grateful to be home. Now if we can just get her to get her days and nights switched then we'll really be doing great!

Ready or Not

I started writing this post the day before Ellie was born and wanted to finish it off to share a little about this pregnancy even if it is after the fact. 

Here are our initial responses to finding out we were having another baby.

Mason: "But Miles is ZERO!"

Brynn: "We just already have a baby."

Miles: Nothing. He couldn't even say the word baby let along understand.

Scott: Just hoped it was another girl.

Rachel: Total and complete denial.

As soon as we found out we were having a girl it became a little more real and the kids got really excited. Mason and Brynn have had many great ideas to name her.  Just seconds after we found out it was a girl Brynn said, "I think we should name our baby sister Cheetah".  She stuck with that for several months but now is convinced we should name her Lydia.  Mason wants to name her Claire.  I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact he seems to have a little crush on his friend Claire ;)

Scott and I have made a list of some names we like including Jane, Ellie, Claire, Bailey, and Morgan, but knowing us we'll probably end up going with something different altogether. 

We are curious to find out what baby girl looks like. Will she be dark like Mason or lighter like Brynn and Miles. Will she be a chubby baby like the boys or petite like her sister. So many things we don't know and can't wait to see. What I do know about her is she is a mover and a shaker. I feel as if she has moved around continuously for the last 9 months. In each ultrasound I had she was constantly moving around and every single doctors appointment they struggled to count her heartbeat because she would be moving around so much.

Even with all of that movement I have been much more comfortable physically this pregnancy than I remember being with my others. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that my body didn't have very much time to get back in shape after Miles and so it hasn't put up much of a fight in resisting the changes pregnancy brings, but I also think she is smaller than my other babies.

 While physically this pregnancy hasn't been bad, it has definitely taken a toll on me emotionally. If I could describe the timing of this baby in one word it would be complicated. It feels like every plan we had in place to make it through these two years of graduate school has been altered by this pregnancy and baby.  I am due on May 28th but Scott has to be in Omaha to start his internship on May 20, which means he will be leaving on the 17th. We were hoping I would just go into labor and have the baby before it was time for him to leave, but it doesn't look like that is going to be the case. So we have no idea if Scott will even be able to be here when the baby is born.  In the last week we have packed up our entire house in preparation for our renters and yesterday we moved in with my parents where I will be staying for a few weeks after the baby is born before meeting up with Scott in Omaha with the kiddos.  It is all crazy and stressful and we just have to believe that it will all work out in the end, although most of the time I have no idea how that is possible.

This last week I decided to take each of the kids on a little Mommy and me date to spend some good 1-on-1 time with them before this little one comes and occupies most of my time. 

Brynn is my little painter and asks daily to paint.  So I took her to Color Me Mine and we spent some time painting together.  She chose this Hello Kitty figurine and slathered it with as much pink and purple pain as possible. I loved having an afternoon to shower Brynn with all my attention.

The completed project before they fire it.  We picked it up a few days later and boy does it look great.

Mason wanted to go bowling and play in the arcade at Provo Beach Resort.  He loves to play the mini bowling there. He spent all of his money trying to get a Star Wars Angry Bird from the claw machine. He never got it and unfortunately it kind of ruined our date for him, but that is kind of the way life goes with this kid. I hope he enjoyed spending some time with me.

I took Miles to Kangaroo Zoo and he was in heaven. I especially enjoyed my time with him knowing that if I end up having a c-section I will not be able to hold him and therefore won't really be able to take care of him for a couple of weeks. The thing I worry about the most with this baby coming along so soon is how it is going to affect Miles.  I am sad that he is being forced out of the baby position too soon. I loved every second of my date with him.

 

The one picture I got on my phone that wasn't blurry, but it will not let me rotate it. So just turn your head :)

 Ready or not, here she comes.

New Addition

Introducing the newest member of the Murray Family

Ellie Jane Murray

  Born May 16th at 1:05pm

5 lbs 10 oz and 16 inches long 

Little Miss Ellie has spent the first four days of her life in the NICU working on breathing and eating and especially breathing while eating. She is making great progress and we are hoping she will be ready to come home soon. 

Ellie is the sweetest little girl and we are so grateful she has come to our family.

Little Gymnast

Last year when Brynn turned 3 we started her in gymnastics at Arete Gym.  It was clear from her very first week of class this was going to be a good fit for her.  She was so excited for her first day and her enthusiasm and excitement has never wavered since.  She always listens to her teacher and tries her hardest to do exactly what she is asked to do.  Brynn's favorite things include the bars, trampoline, balance beam, spring board, and of course the foam pit.  Brynn had her spring performance where she was able to show off all the things she has learned.  Unfortunately this also marked the end of her gymnastics for now. Brynn is so sad it is over.  When we told her teachers we were moving they strongly encouraged us to continue gymnastics with Brynn where ever we go because she is very talented for a 3 year old. I totally agree. I don't know if she'll ever decide to be a true gymnast, but the happiness and confidence she is gaining through this will surely transfer over to other areas in her life. We may be taking a little break for the summer, but I definitely think there will be more gymnastics in her future.  I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many more times, but this little girl has such a zeal for life and loves to get out and experience things. I love it and I'm so proud of her.

Daddy's Girl

Valentine's Day 2013

These two have such a sweet and special relationship.  It melts my heart every time Scott comes home and Brynn runs to him as fast as she can saying, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" before throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a giant hug. She definitely has him wrapped around her little finger. It's no wonder why Scott is so excited to be having another little girl.

Lego Maniac

Mason turned 6 on April 25th. I love birthdays and usually can't stop myself from going a little overboard, but this year with everything we have going on (i.e. Scott's finals, baby due soon, packing up house, moving to Omaha to name a few) we kept things pretty simple.  Mason couldn't decide between a Ninjago, Chima, or Lego Star Wars party, so we decided to include them all in a Lego party. This kid is the definition of a Lego maniac. 

I found a cake idea on pinterest, but had to improvise a little when I didn't start decorating until 45 minutes before his party. All Mason cared about was putting his favorite lego guys all over it.

Mason just invited a few of his closest friends this year. We started off with a Lego building contest.

Claire Kidd, Mason, Brynn, Cache McCann, Preston Whitaker, Mac Christiansen.

We awarded them each with awards like cutest, biggest, fastest, most durable, etc. With their award they each received a Lego Star Wars light saber aka bubblewand.

Then we headed outside where we had the bounce house set up and the kids ran around playing until we had to drag them inside for pizza, cake, and ice cream. It wasn't anything fancy, but the kids all seemed to have a great time. 

 

Obviously the many Lego sets Mason got were all favorites.  Mason has been asking if we can get a real basketball hoop at our house.  We really want to get one, but since we're moving away this summer and then will be moving for good in a year, we decided we wouldn't be able to get a whole lot of use out of it now.  So we got Mason a little hoop to hang on doors.  I love this picture because it catches his "victory dance" he does whenever he is really excited about something. 

Happy Birthday to my Lego Maniac!